The runner
by Last.one.02
Summary: She and running have always gone together. During times she had ran more or less, but she had always loved it. A quick look into her life through her hobby.


She loves running. It's a simple fact, but the truth is that she loves running. Every Spanish morning began with a quick run along the Atlantic coast. It's a thing she enjoys. She has loved it since she was 17 and used to run before going to bed around 3 am. She loved it then. Running at nights was good – the city was peaceful, it wasn't too hot and people were not on the streets. That way her parents didn't even know she went for a run – they never saw nor heard anything. That was summer. Then the fall came and school started and her sleep graphic changed. She was no longer awake until the sun rose and woke when her parents came from work. She went back into being normal. The next summer she was working and also trying to hang out with her friends, so she didn't have time to go running. Beside she had her appendix cut out that summer and that meant that she was no longer working, but also she couldn't to any physical. And then she went to university.

University meant moving. EJ moved from Washington DC to Madrid. Complutense University of Madrid was the place she was going to study history. There was something about the past, that she enjoyed. Beside history doesn't lie. EJ believed, that history is truth in a world full of lies. She can't deny Hitler's massacres or the people fallen fighting in wars during centuries. This truth and there is no way she look past it.

In college she started running again. This time she did it after her classes and before the night came. But then it was very hot outside and people everywhere. Somehow EJ didn't like running, when people were there to watch her face turn into red, her sweat obvious on her clothes and her breathing turn into panting. She never did like it. So that's when she decided to start running in the early morning. She woke up around 6 am, went for a run, showered and went back to her room, when the other girl named Lucia started waking. They had that nice schedule. It was a win-win situation.

After graduation, her uncle talked about the possibility of joining NCIS. EJ thought about it and then she sent her application. She got the job. Even many years later she had no idea, if she got in only because of her uncle SecNav. She thought it was because of that. She completed her agent training – physical was easy and she also learned to shoot. And she was good at it. At first NCIS wasn't her dream job, but somehow she fell in love with it.

NCIS meant moving from Madrid and EJ moved to San Diego. That's where NCIS office was and she was there. At first she was probie and mostly behind the desk, but then she became field agent and EJ fell in love with her work. Due to long hours she didn't go running often, but when she did, she loved every second of it. But the thing she liked the most was that she chased criminals, and that meant running. Her hobby became a part of her job. An she loved it.

Then came the promotion and she had to do physical more often. She had to run to maintain her special agent status. EJ had nothing against it, beside it meant she got to do what she really loved during work. It was good. Real good.

Years passed like that. EJ got a routine – 5 days work and then on weekends she went for a run. But then something changed. She got a personal life and the man wanted EJ to spend free time with him. She agreed and running was forgotten. She forgot she loved to run. She changed herself and surprisingly she didn't mind. She was good, she felt good about herself. It was until she was offered a better job – she accepted.

Director Jenny Shepard gave EJ the job in Rota, which Anthony DiNozzo didn't want to have. So EJ moved back to Spain, but this time on the south coast. She thought that maybe her uncle had something to do with or maybe the fact that she had studied in Spain before. Anyway it was a good offer and a good call to accept. She was a female in charge of two men. It didn't take too long, before they all got along well. They were friends first and that's the most important thing. She knew they had her back like she had theirs.

In Rota she started running again. Early mornings passed as EJ ran along the Atlantic ocean. It was beautiful, warm and comforting. She loved it. From the first time she ran on the soil of Rota, she was in love. And she stayed like that until the very last moment there. Her co-workers didn't know about it, she never told and they never asked. Beside she had never been much of a people person and somehow it wouldn't feel right to run with someone else. Running alone had it's perks. The thing she loved was the ability to think. She thought about many things. And afterward things seemed to make more sense. Reasons didn't matter – outcome did.

Everything was nice in Rota, until one marine was killed. The person of the marine was not important, the murderer mattered. EJ didn't catch him. And then another murder came, then in another port city. And another. Then it got serious. NCIS and CIA both were determined to catch the bastard. Agent Ray was assigned as CIA liason with NCIS. EJ and Ray got along well. But still they didn't manage to catch that killer. He was named Port-to-port killer. But still he moved under NCIS and CIA radar without being seen nor heard. He was trained, and trained well. During the chase, running was last thing on EJ's mind. She had work to do and there was simply no time to out for a run.

And then she moved to the capital city, where she had to work together with agent Gibbs and his team. They both had investigated Port-to-port killer, but they got nothing. Killer was always so careful and step ahead of them. It's how it was, until first one of them was killed. EJ didn't know Mike Franks, but he and Gibbs were close. The connection was still not clear to the younger agent and she really didn't care. And there was also the fact that Ray was Ziva's boyfriend. Ziva was in Gibbs' team and EJ worked with her on the case. That was unexpected, but EJ was neutral about it.

The case was special. They all agreed on that. That's when EJ might have fallen again. Special agent Anthony DiNozzo was the lucky man. Agent Gibbs was against them, but she didn't care. She liked Tony and he liked her. How much ? Well, that is still not clear. And at this point, maybe they'll never find it out. When she moved to DC , she wasn't a runner anymore and Tony made her forget it too. She was happy. It took her time to feel the joy, but finally she did.

And then they caught the bastard. Her uncle, NCIS director Leon Vance and CIA agent Trent Kort. From what she heard and saw, she learned that Team Gibbs had had a contact with agent Kort before, and it wasn't too pleasant. Came out NCIS and CIA didn't get along very well, the reasons were still unknown.

And now she is resigned from NCIS, taking a break. Yeah, she and Tony might be over, temporary. Who knows what will happen the next year. Everything is possible. Maybe she'll continue being NCIS agent. Maybe she'll find herself running again. Everything is possible at this moment, where she is standing in her apartment staring at the wall.

One thing she does know, is that NCIS won't be the same it was before. Nothing remains the same. And she either has to adapt the change or she'll be left behind, running. The thing she does know is that she has a lot free time in her hands and no idea what to do with it. At least at this moment.

A moment later she found herself on the streets, running. She had no direction, no idea where she was heading, but one thing she does know is that she loves running. And at that very moment in time she fell in love with running again.


End file.
